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Both Greenwich television entrepreneur Ned Lamont and former Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy would defeat Republican Tom Foley of Greenwich in a general election in November, according to the latest Rasmussen poll.

Lamont would defeat Foley by 42 percent to 35 percent - with 11 percent picking another candidate and 13 percent undecided. The poll of 500 likely voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

In the same poll, Malloy would defeat Foley by 38 percent to 35 percent - with 11 percent choosing another candidate and 16 percent undecided.

All four candidates will be in the thick of the race at the nominating conventions in Hartford on Saturday, May 22. Lamont, Malloy, and Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi are the only three Democrats left in the race. Simsbury First Selectman Mary Glassman dropped out and will now be running for the lieutenant governor nomination on the Lamont team. Former state Rep. Juan Figueroa dropped out of the governor's race Friday, but he said he had not cut any deals with any other candidates for lieutenant governor or other positions.

The state House of Representatives and Senate both approved a $19 billion budget compromise Wednesday night that increases spending by 0.9 percent, borrows nearly $1 billion for operating expenses, and does not raise any additional taxes in an election year.

As the legislature raced toward a midnight deadline, the House voted, 93 to 57, at about 11:50 p.m. for the measure.

After nearly four hours of debate, the Senate voted 19 to 16 on the final day of the legislative session for a massive, 245-page budget bill that included other bills that were buried inside. The budget is the highest in state history and marks the first time that the fiscal plan has crossed the $19 billion threshold.

All 12 Republican senators voted against the budget, and they were joined by four Democrats: Joan Hartley of Waterbury, Andrew Maynard of Stonington, Donald DeFronzo of New Britain, and Edward Meyer of Guilford.

"We are making the best of a bad economic situation here in Connecticut'' and around the country, said Senate President Pro Tem Donald Williams of Brooklyn. "There are no cuts in aid to cities and towns that would feed to property tax increases.''

In the House, a group of moderate Democrats joined with all 37 Republicans to vote against the budget. The Democrats voting "no'' included Linda Schofield of Simsbury, Mary Fritz of Wallingford, Steven Mikutel of Griswold, Terry Backer of Stratford, Shawn Johnston of Thompson, William Tong of Stamford, Peggy Reeves of Wilton, and Elizabeth Esty of Cheshire.

Lawmakers had been wrangling recently before Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell and Democratic legislators finally reached a deal on a package that funds everything from dental care for prison inmates to an annual subsidy for the University of Connecticut and its financially troubled health center.

The budget vote during the legislative session was highly unusual - at least in recent history. It had not happened since 2006 as all budgets had run overtime since then. In this decade, the legislature voted on the budget on time in 2004, 2005, and 2006, according to the legislative library.

The projected budget deficit of $700 million will be closed through a combination of one-shot maneuvers that include about $366 million from an extension of federal stimulus money, sweeping various funds to help the deficit-ridden general fund, and deferring a payment of $100 million into the state employees' pension fund. The measure also calls for borrowing nearly $1 billion to balance the budget, which is lower than an original plan last year to borrow $1.3 billion. The budget increase of 0.9 percent is among the lowest in state history, but Republicans said the total should have been lower because businesses have taken drastic measures to reduce their budgets in the worst economic downturn in decades.

The budget is also noteworthy for much-debated items it does not include: no early retirement program for state employees, no legalization of the keno gambling game that Rell had sought, no major cuts in state aid to cities and towns, no major consolidations of state agencies, and no privatization of Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks. The bill does not include any changes in the state income tax, which was raised last year for millionaires, and the cigarette tax, which had been boosted last year by 50 percent.

Senate Republican leader John McKinney of Fairfield said that, fundamentally, the state budget should not have increased at all because the state is still projecting a deficit of more than $3 billion in the 2012 fiscal year after the new governor takes office. The bill lacks consolidations, privatizations, and restructurings that had been sought by the GOP.

"We are still left with a massive, structural hole in 2012,'' McKinney said. "It is, in many ways, business as usual. ... We had all talked about consolidating state agencies. None of that is in here. We make no real attempt to streamline government. ... Why would we not think about doing that?''

The Senate debate did not start debate on the massive, 245-page budget bill until about 4:50 p.m. Wednesday because the Senate spent several hours offering tributes and verbal bouquets to three colleagues who will be leaving the chamber to seek higher office and another who is retiring.

The bill balances the budget for the fiscal year that starts on July 1, but the state will still be facing problems after the new governor takes office in January.

"It really doesn't address the deficit that we have projected in fiscal years 2012 and 2013,'' said Sen. Toni Harp, a New Haven Democrat who co-chairs the budget-writing appropriations committee. "We're hoping for an immediate and abrupt turnaround in our economy'' to generate money in the future.

With only 90 minutes remaining in the legislative session, the state House of Representatives began debating the budget at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. Under an agreement with Rell, a months-long, sometimes-bitter clash between the governor's office and the judicial branch over the budget was settled. As such, the governor will have less power to make budget cuts in the judiciary. Going forward, the budgets for both the legislative and judicial branches will go directly to the appropriations committee.

"This is no small step,'' said Rep. Craig Miner, a Litchfield Republican who serves as the ranking member on the budget-writing appropriations committee. "This is a big change in the way we do things right now.''

The House Republicans offered a 162-page amendment to balance the budget, after 11 p.m. Wednesday, that would allow state employees at the age of 52 to retire under an early retirement incentive program in order to reduce the size of the state work force. Various employees expressed deep frustration with the state employees' unions, which opposed the ERIP. The 124-section amendment offered various ideas for consolidations and cutting money for the free mail that is sent by legislators to constituents.

Republicans complained repeatedly that Democrats had kicked the can down the road and avoided tough decisions.

"Time and again, when we were given a decision, we punted,'' said Rep. Vincent J. Candelora, the ranking House Republican on the tax-writing committee. "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm very concerned with the pattern we're seeing here today. Mr. Speaker, I'm concerned about this turnaround. It could be that a few people had a very good year in 2009 in the stock market out of Fairfield County. ... While we may have moved some numbers around ... I don't think the public is going to get that. Once again, I think we've punted. We might make it into the fall and push it off to another legislature and another governor.''

The revised revenue estimates by the legislature's nonpartisan fiscal office projected Wednesday that the state will collect $6.68 billion from the income tax and $3.16 billion through the sales tax in the 2011 fiscal year. In addition, corporations will pay an estimated $663 million, while smokers will contribute $386.5 million from cigarette taxes. The two Indian casinos in southeastern Connecticut will generate an estimated $365 million for the state's share of slot-machine revenues, which is a sharp drop from $430 million at the peak of the economic boom. The state's deficits have happened because of huge drops in the income and sales taxes, but the latest estimates are high enough to balance the budget for the next fiscal year.

"I think it's a great accomplishment'' to have no substantial new taxes, said Rep. Cameron Staples, a New Haven Democrat who co-chairs the tax-writing finance committee and is serving in his final year in the legislature.

With various fiscal maneuvers and new revenue estimates, the state is now projected to have a surplus in the current fiscal year of $139 million.

Republicans charged that Democrats had essentially kicked the can down the road and had avoided making tough choices on painful budget cuts by avoiding any difficult decisions on agency consolidations or privatizations.

Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele has released his second television commercial, targeted at Republicans who watch the Fox News Channel and cable television in Fairfield County.

The 30-second ad features Fedele looking directly into the camera and saying that state spending has gone too far - particularly with high pensions for state employees.

In the commercial, Fedele says some state employees currently have "bloated salaries and a lifetime of generous benefits'' in Connecticut.

"This ad highlights my plan to address Connecticut's fiscal crisis," Fedele said in a statement. "I have repeatedly stated my belief that the state of Connecticut does not have a revenue problem. Instead, we have a spending problem that can be boiled down very simply: the Democrats in the legislature have never met a program they didn't want to fund. Over the past two decades, increases in government spending have outpaced increases in personal income by a wide margin. That is the formula that helped to create the fiscal disaster we are now experiencing and it can only be remedied by discipline and courage."

He added, "The bottom line is that the Democrat majority has grown the state bureaucracy to unsustainable levels in order to support an unprecedented number of government programs, many of which are unaffordable."

Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney has endorsed former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Tom Foley for governor.

Romney, a national GOP figure who previously served as governor of Massachusetts, is considered among the party's potential leaders in the 2012 presidential race.

"Tom Foley is a smart businessman and a good problem-solver who can find and apply common sense solutions to the problems facing Connecticut," Romney said in a statement. "Tom has a long and successful history of turning around troubled companies in difficult settings, and these are the leadership skills that are required in today's challenging times. Tom is capable of putting politics aside and going to work on behalf of the people of Connecticut."

Foley, who was appointed by President George W. Bush to the post in Ireland and a high-level post in Iraq to privatize government-owned businesses, has declared that he would decline the governor's $150,000 annual salary as part of a plan to reduce the $18.9 billion state budget by $1 billion per year.

Romney's "record as a no-nonsense leader, capable of identifying problems and implementing solutions is a model I plan to follow,'' Foley said. "Facing an overwhelmingly Democratic legislature, Governor Romney was able to lead based on the quality of his ideas. That is what leadership is all about.''

Lt. Gov. Mike Fedele has released his first television ad of the gubernatorial campaign, targeting conservative Republicans on the Fox News Channel.

Fedele's 30-second commercial will be broadcast on the most popular programs on the network, featuring conservative commentators Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity. The ads will also be on "Morning Joe'' with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, "Fox and Friends,'' and "Fox News Prime Time.''

Overall, the commercial will be shown 71 times per week at a cost of $10,000 per week, said Christopher Cooper, a spokesman for Fedele. The first week and a half cost $15,000, and the campaign expects to eventually spend $100,000 through the state GOP convention in late May.

"They are programs we believe that Republican primary voters watch'' as compared to general-election voters, Cooper said of the Fox shows. "We are working very closely with our media consultant on doing that kind of targeting. ... We know who watches those shows. This is a targeted buy.''

Fedele is seeking public financing of his campaign - meaning that he cannot immediately match a statewide television blitz like the one funded by his primary opponent, Greenwich multi-millionaire Tom Foley. Foley has already contributed $2 million to his campaign, and most insiders believe he will contribute more.

"We still believe that the right message and the right qualifications are going to be compelling,'' said Cooper, a former spokesman for Gov. M. Jodi Rell.

Besides being broadcast in the Hartford and New Haven markets, viewers in Fairfield County will also be able to see the commercial in the expensive New York City television market.

Two Greenwich millionaires - Democrat Ned Lamont and Republican Tom Foley - maintain their frontrunner status in the potential gubernatorial primaries in the latest Quinnipiac University poll that was released this morning.

Lamont, a cable television entrepreneur, leads former Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy by 28 percent to 18 percent. Simsbury first selectman Mary Glassman is in third place at 4 percent, but 44 percent of Democrats remain undecided - making the race a wide open contest.

Democratic Candidates For Governor

Feb. 10, 2009

Nov. 10, 2009

Jan. 21, 2010

18-Mar-10

Lamont

na

23

27

28

Malloy

12

9

11

18

Glassman

na

na

4

4

Figueroa

na

na

1

1

Marconi

na

1

1

2

Amann

4

3

5

na

LeBeau

na

2

2

na

Bysiewicz

44

26

na

na

Someone Else

3

1

4

1

Wouldn't Vote

2

2

2

2

Don't Know/No Answer

36

33

44

44

Margin of error: +/- 4.2 percentage points

On the Republican side, Foley has increased his support to 30 percent against Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele of Stamford and Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, who are both tied at 4 percent. Some insiders believe that Boughton could have enough support from his days as a state legislator and mayor to capture 15 percent of the delegates at the convention and qualify for the GOP primary. In that race, 50 percent of Republicans are undecided - giving a chance for plenty of movement in the multi-candidate field, including a series of candidates who are polling in the single digits.

GOP Candidates for Governor

Jan. 21

18-Mar

Foley

17

30

Fedele

8

4

Griebel

2

2

Boughton

6

4

Wright

na

2

Marsh

na

--

DeNardis

4

2

Someone Else

2

2

Wouldn't Vote

2

3

Don't Know/No Answer

59

50

Margin of error: +/- 5 percentage points

In potentially the biggest surprise of the day, Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz maintains a huge lead in the race for attorney general, despite a barrage of negative publicity for the past two months over whether she has the necessary 10 years of "active practice'' of the law in Connecticut, which is the requirement under the law to be attorney general. Bysiewicz has the support of 54 percent of those polled, far ahead of former state Senate majority leader George Jepsen of Ridgefield at 10 percent. Overall, 31 percent of Democrats are still undecided in that race.

Attorney General

Democratic Candidate

Jan. 21

18-Mar

Bysiewicz

62

54

Jepsen

10

10

Staples

na

2

Schulman

na

2

Jarjura

3

na

Wouldn't Vote

--

1

Don't Know/No Answer

24

31

Margin of error: +/- 4.2 percentage points

"One has to wonder how long she can maintain her big lead if the various controversies surrounding her campaign continue,'' said Douglas Schwartz, the longtime Quinnipiac pollster.

Attorney General

GOP Candidates

18-Mar

Deane

9

Roraback

13

Pavia

8

Someone Else

2

Wouldn't Vote

3

Don't Know/No Answer

66

Margin of error: +/- 5 percentage points

The candidates are battling for the support of delegates at the party conventions in May in Hartford, and then they will clash in statewide primaries on August 10.

Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele called for deep cuts in spending Wednesday, including four-year hiring and spending freezes, merging state agencies, capping the lucrative pensions of state employees, and eliminating the current bonus payments for state employees.

Fedele, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor, said he would propose no tax increases if he is elected governor in November. And if the Republicans win both the House of Representatives and Senate for the first time in decades, he would pledge to have no new taxes at all.

The state is currently paying more than $1.2 billion annually in pension benefits to more than 42,000 retirees - an amount that Fedele says is simply unsustainable. In addition, the state pension fund is underfunded by $9.3 billion, which he said is "the equivalent of a ticking time bomb'' for the state.

"Quite simply, state employees should not enjoy benefits that far exceed those available to the average working person in our state,'' Fedele said.

As such, Fedele says all new state employees would enroll in a 401 (k) - style plan that is common in the private sector.

Fedele has been in second place in the Quinnipiac University poll behind former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Tom Foley - a Greenwich millionaire who has never held public office and has been running statewide television commercials to raise his name recognition. A new Quinnipiac poll on the governor's race is scheduled to be released Thursday morning.

Oz Griebel, the longtime business executive who is running for governor as an outsider, has picked up the endorsement of one of the longest-serving Republican senators: Tony Guglielmo.

Guglielmo, who has served at the Capitol since the days of then-Gov. Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. in January 1993, is the best-known lawmaker to support Griebel in his relatively new campaign.

"Oz is unquestionably the best qualified and strongest candidate to lead our entire slate of candidates to victory in November, as well as tackle our state's significant economic challenges come January,'' Guglielmo said in a statement. "As the only true outsider in the race, Oz's experience at the nexus of business and public policy - coupled with his energy, charisma, and ability to build consensus - uniquely position him to take on the ultimate Democratic challenger in November.''

Guglielmo, who operates an insurance company in his hometown of Stafford, will work to help Griebel try to achieve support from the necessary 15 percent of the GOP delegates at the May convention that would enable him to qualify for the August 10 primary.

Dannel Malloy officially announced he is running for governor Wednesday - 13 months after starting to explore the race.

Malloy is the longest running candidate in the race, having spent more than two years and nearly $4 million before losing in the Democratic primary in 2006. None of the other candidates has returned four years later as Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell, New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, and Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz have all declined to run for the state's top political post.

After filing papers in Hartford, Malloy walked outside into the bright sunshine and received a warm welcome from more than 100 supporters, including current and former Democratic state legislators.

"We are a great state with great people, who for many years has suffered,'' Malloy told the crowd, adding that the state has not had great leadership in recent years.

"In so many ways, being the governor of the state of Connecticut is a little bit like being the mayor of a major United States city,'' Malloy said, referring to his 14 years as mayor in his hometown of Stamford.

"It's time that we have that kind of leadership in that building over there,'' Malloy said from the steps of 20 Trinity Street as he pointed to the state Capitol. "The people of Connecticut are ready for change, expecting change. Quite frankly, they're demanding change, and we're going to give it to them.''

He wrapped up his remarks to the crowd by saying, "Just remember. When we win, we change Connecticut forever. God bless you all.''

Griebel joined the race Thursday and will be battling against Republican frontrunners Tom Foley of Greenwich and Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele of Stamford. Former U.S. Rep. Larry DeNardis of Hamden and Chester First Selectman Thomas E. Marsh have also created exploratory committees to run for governor as Republicans.

On the Democratic side, seven aspirants are in the race: Greenwich cable TV entrepreneur Ned Lamont, former Stamford mayor Dannel Malloy, former House Speaker Jim Amann, Simsbury first selectman Mary Glassman, Ridgefield first selectman Rudy Marconi, state Sen. Gary LeBeau of East Hartford and former state Rep. Juan Figueroa of Meriden. Others are still considering whether to run.